Agency courting site-selection experts

JOHNSTOWN – The Fulton County Center for Regional Growth this summer will be increasingly involved with site selectors who scout locations for businesses’ new facilities.

CRG President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Reese discussed his agency’s efforts in his semi-annual report to the Fulton County Board of Supervisors on Monday at the County Office Building.

Reese said he will bring a site selector – whose name isn’t being divulged – to the county this summer.

“We want to show him the sites we currently have available,” he said.

Reese said he may want the site selector to meet with members of the Board of Supervisors on “ways to market Fulton County.”

He said he also wants to invite a national group of site selectors here to see a number of sites the area has to offer, including the Nathan Littauer Hospital and Fulton-Montgomery Community College campuses.

Site selectors typically are consultants who help businesses find the optimal location for construction or expansion of their facilities. Factors they consider include accessibility to and availability of customers, space costs, size, physical characteristics, zoning regulations, tax incentives and quality of the local workforce.

Continuing his report, Reese said the CRG has been meeting with its marketing firm, Saratoga Springs-based Shannon-Rose Design.

“We’re trying to update our website to make it more user-friendly,” he said. “That is coming along very nicely.”

The CRG website address is fccrg.org.

Reese said his agency has developed new advertising in conjunction with some of the marketing changes.

“We’ve now created a Facebook page for our organization,” Reese said.

Reese said the CRG this summer plans a photo contest for high school-age students in the county. He said the CRG will encourage students to shoot photos of such things as factories, commercial buildings and community activities and post them on the Facebook page. He said a grand-prize winner will be declared in November. A prize such as a digital camera may be awarded.

Part of the goal of the contest, Reese said, is to let young people see what’s available in Fulton County.

Reese reported new Spanish sausage manufacturer Pata Negra is expected to start up soon on Harrison Street in Gloversville. He said the company is spending about $2.5 million initially and is expected to create 15 to 20 jobs, marketing its products in the Northeast.

“This company could grow to a nice-sized company for our community,” Reese said.

Turning to real estate, he said the Crossroads Incubator Corp. is selling its old properties. He said the CRG has a “purchase offer” on its building at 110 Decker Drive at the Crossroads Business Park in Gloversville.

Reese said two pieces of CRG litigation are still ongoing. One is to try to recover $3 million in bonus money the CRG says was improperly taken by two former executives. Former CIC Executive Vice President Peter Sciocchetti and former EDC Senior Vice President Jeff Bray were involved in the 2010 scandal. The two men were fired in July of that year. The CRG is also suing its former accounting firm in the same lawsuit.

He noted the CRG also has a pending lawsuit against Bray and former agency attorney J. Paul Kolodziej.